Some Android users using the YouTube app may have noticed a change to the video player progress bar in dark mode. This is the line at the bottom of your video when you’re watching streaming content in portrait orientation. As the video plays, the bar moves to the right to show how much of the video has loaded. Progress bars are normally red, but some Android users, including this writer, are now seeing white progress bars instead.change was first discovered 9to5Google.
Once the white progress bar appears, the portion of the line indicating how much of a particular video has loaded in the app disappears. Touching the line to go forward or back (an activity called scrubbing) restores the red color, similar to tapping the video to return to the controls. When the progress bar returns to its original red color, it will again show how much of the currently selected video has loaded.
Dark mode YouTube progress bar turned white on some Android phones
If you’re watching in landscape, the progress bar won’t appear unless you tap the screen, then it will appear for 1 second. The horizontal progress bar is red, at least not yet. Also, I should point out again that the vertical progress bar color change is only visible when watching YouTube in dark mode. In lite mode, the progress bar is red and stands out. It makes sense that the white progress bar is easier to see when the background is dark.
Don’t worry if you don’t see this change in the YouTube app. This is a normal A/B test, Google is famous for running. For what it’s worth, the Pixel 6 Pro you’re using has a really white progress bar, but it’s running Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1.